It takes a real expert to tell the Freshwater Cobbler from the Saltwater
Cobbler. They are a fantastic Catfish for a freshwater aquarium. (Tandanus
Bostocki)

Jim

Redforeman 2007-11-05 11:54:16

Any aulonacara cichlid aka peacock cichlids are very colorful…. blues,
reds, yellows, some almost purples… peaceful fish, prolific breeders, some
are wonderfully bright….

—

RedForeman

Bruce abrams 2007-11-05 11:54:24

That’s a very misleading general statement. If you want to maintain a
simple freshwater community tank, or even a Rift Lake Ciclid tank, the
ongoing maintenance is pretty much limited to basic filter maintenance,
periodic water changes (which can be simplified even further with a Python),
and periodic water tests of PH and Nitrite (to make sure all is well with
the biological filter).

With a marine tank each water change requires salt mixing and measuring
specific gravity, water testing is far more extensively required and much
more equipment is generally required to be maintained. For someone who has
been keeping a marine tank for years it might seem simple, but it is most
assuredly not as easy as keeping a freshwater one.

If you just want to keep marine fish the only difference in equipment,
testing, and procedure is mixing salt with the water before water
changes. The same filters, tanks, heaters, and lights can be used. No
test kits are required, but a pH and nitrates kit should be on
hand. Of Course a simple plastic hydrometer is needed. As a novice
marine aquarist I stand by my statement that it is really that easy.

If you wish to keep invertebrates such as snails, crabs and shrimp
then some additional care is required. Basically you can’t skip your
monthly maintenance. The big difference “eqipment” wise is that live
rock (LR) is the preferred form of filtration, and it is
expensive. Once you start talking about corals then you also need more
and different equipment such as better lights, and a skimmer.

The maintenance of a reef tank (with ot without coral) is different
then freshwater. Because a reef tank is a mostly contained ecosystem
water changes are often unecessary as nitrates are controlled by
anerobic bacteria. Feeding, monitoring, replaceing evaporated water
(with fresh), and cleaning the skimmer are often all that is
required. The maintenance of a reef tank can often be less then a
similarly size freshwater tank. With a catch: you can’t ignore a reef
tank.

It should be noted that while the cost of marine fish is often higher,
fewer fish are kept in a given tank size. That said, various damsels
are being bred in captivity and locally cost the same as most african
chiclids. Damsels are tough marine fish suitable for most fish only
tanks (not reef tanks). Like chilids however aggression and
compatibility are issues. Research the fish before purchase.

For years I made the mistake thinking that marine aquariums are too
hard to keep. I have been keeping a small marine tank for a year and
wish I had started sooner.

Keith jennings 2007-11-05 13:39:22

I kept freshwater fish for 5 years before I tried saltwater. I had a 55
gallon marine fish-only tank runing for 6 months, and all was well.
It wasn’t much harder than a freshwater tank. It was beautiful.

Then I jumped into reef keeping, and lost nearly $2,000 worth of livestock
to a pair of minor mistakes. Someone recommended I add potasium to encourage
the growth of live corals. I mis-read this and added phosphorus instead. The
result : the purple algae of doom. The purple algae smothered my whole reef
tank in only a week. In some places, it grew over an inch thick.

I did some more research, and found that some antibiotics will kill the
cursed purple algae. I added the wrong antibiotic, and all my invertebrates
died within a couple of days. The ammonia, etc. from the dead inverts was
enough to kill off all the fish too.